R.E.M.Country of origin:U.S. Type of music generally:Alternative rock/pop Status:Most recent release, Unplugged (2 CDs, 2014) See also:R.E.M. HQ Covers/own material:Own, occasional co-written songs, and covers General comments:R.E.M. aren't so bad, really, nor as far from some basic Ecto ideas as they might seem from casual audits. The Chronic Town EP and Murmur changed my life in '82. (bossert@suddensound.com) Comments about live performance:Woj and I did something really silly last night — we went to see R.E.M. at Madison Square Garden. It was actually sorta fun, and amusing to watch the crowd be completely clueless when they played songs written before 1991. Luscious Jackson opened. Their last song, ELO's "Illegal Woman" with Michael Stipe singing was almost worth the price of admission in itself, I'll give you that. (Jun 25, 1995, meth@smoe.org,) Recommended first album:Count me in on those who like R.E.M.'s Fables of the Reconstruction best. Of course, their entire catalog's a gem (with the possible exception of Green). (pmcohen@voicenet.com) Recordings:
Chronic Town EPRelease info:1982—I.R.S. Availability:Out of print, but available on CD version of Dead Letter Office Ecto priority:Highly recommended Group members:Bill Berry Produced by:Mitch Easter + R.E.M. Comments:This was our intro to R.E.M. and something that we loved immediately. Though I've long lost interest in the band, I still love this ep. One of the few pieces of vinyl we've kept over the years and still listen to. (Neile) MurmurRelease info:1983—International Record Syndicate; Reissued 1990—A&M Records—CD70014 Availability:Wide Ecto priority:Highly recommended Group members:Bill Berry Produced by:Mitch Easter and Don Dixon Comments:A classic album, and still one of their very best. In terms of cohesiveness, it may indeed be their best album. While only a couple of songs became hits ("Radio Free Europe", "Talk About the Passion"), there isn't a bad song on the album and they all work really well together. The sound is rooted in the early '80s, and yet it's a timeless album that doesn't sound dated over twenty years later. (JoAnn Whetsell) ReckoningRelease info:1984—International Record Syndicate; Reissued 1990—A&M Records—CD70044 Availability:Wide Ecto priority:Recommended Group members:Mike Mills—bass, vocals Produced by:Mitch Easter and Don Dixon Comments:Not one of their best albums, but not bad either. I don't listen to this one often, but it's good enough to keep around and pull out from time to time. There aren't a whole lot of memorable songs, but "Rockville" is fun, "7 Chinese Brothers" and "Time After Time (Annelise)" are very good, and "So. Central Rain" is one of their best ever. (JoAnn Whetsell) Fables of the ReconstructionRelease info:1985—International Record Syndicate—DIDX-391 Availability:Wide Ecto priority:Recommended Group members:Mike Mills Guest artists:Camilla Brunt—violin Produced by:Joe Boyd Comments:R.E.M.: Fables of the Reconstruction of the Fables of the Reconstruction of the Fables of the ... I wish they'd make up their mind. Not a bad CD, but it doesn't compare to their more recent ones in my opinion. (matthewm@smoe.org) Life's Rich PageantRelease info:1986—International Record Syndicate; re-released 1998—Iris Records-93478 Availability:Wide Ecto priority:Highly recommended Group members:Michael Stipe—vocals Produced by:Don Gehman Comments:A really solid album, despite the fact that it only yielded one hit, the beautiful and classic "Fall On Me." The bright pop-rock sound anticipates albums like Out of Time, but it stands well on its own. (JoAnn Whetsell) Dead Letter OfficeRelease info:1987—International Record Syndicate; Reissued 1990—A&M Records—CD 70054 Availability:Wide Ecto priority:Recommended for fans only Group members:Michael Stipe—vocals Guest artists:Mitch Easter—acoustic guitar Produced by:Mitch Easter, R.E.M., Joe Boyd, Don Dixon, Don Gehman Comments:A collection of early B-sides and unreleased tracks, including 6 covers and the entire Chronic Town EP. It has a few good songs like "Gardening At Night", but at 20 tracks and 63 minutes, it's too long for me to get into. (JoAnn Whetsell) DocumentRelease info:1987—International Record Syndicate—IRSD-42059 Availability:Wide Ecto priority:Recommended Group members:Mike Mills—bass, vocals Guest artists:Steve Berlin—horns Produced by:Scott Litt and R.E.M. Comments:The best lyrical capturing of everything that was wrong with the '80s. A Desert Island Disc for me. (dlw@sympatico.ca) EponymousRelease info:1988—International Record Syndicate—IRSD-6262 Availability:Wide Ecto priority:Highly recommended for casual fans or completists Group members:Mike Mills—bass, vocals Comments:I have fond memories of listening to this during road trips to and from college. It's a great collection of their hits which will please the casual fan. Completists will also like it as they chose alternate versions of some songs. (JoAnn Whetsell) GreenRelease info:1988—Warner Bros.—CD25795 Availability:Wide Ecto priority:Highly recommended for pop fans Group members:Mike Mills—bass, vocals Guest artists:Jane Scarpantoni—cello Produced by:Scott Litt & R.E.M. Comments:Green is probably the least ectoish of R.E.M.'s albums, but it's one of my very favorites. It's full of great pop songs that are simply fun to listen to, and I think there's more depth to the lyrics than a cursory listen lets on. Besides, how can anyone listen to "Shiny Happy People" and *not* feel shiny and happy and warm and fuzzy inside? (JoAnn Whetsell) Out of TimeRelease info:1991—Warner Bros.—9 26496-2 Availability:Wide Ecto priority:Highly recommended Group members:Bill Berry Guest artists:Peter Holsapple Produced by:Scott Litt & R.E.M. Comments:Out of Time was a contender for album of the year, and it would've made it if you had replaced "Shiny Happy People" (which I do enjoy, but it should've been a b-side) with the achingly gorgeous "Fretless." This is one of my desert-island discs. (nadyne@little-blue-world.org) On the poppier side of things, but a definite classic. It spawned the hits "Losing My Religion" and "Shiny Happy People," but the rest of the songs on the album are as good—and often better—than those. (JoAnn Whetsell) Automatic for the PeopleRelease info:1992—Warner Bros.—9 45055-2 Availability:Wide Ecto priority:Essential Group members:Bill Berry Guest artists:John Paul Jones—orchestral arrangements (1, 3, 4, 11) Produced by:Scott Litt & R.E.M. Comments:Stipe at his vocal best. So, so many great, great songs. Able to take you to great highs and lows. Ends with "Find the River" which has got to rate as one of their best. A Desert Island Disc for me. (dlw@sympatico.ca) MonsterRelease info:1994—Warner Bros.—9 45740-1 Availability:Wide Ecto priority:Recommended Group members:Bill Berry Guest artists:Ane, Lynda, Lou, Rain (8) Produced by:Scott Litt & R.E.M. Comments:Gorgeous in its cacophony. Long live reverb and feedback. (kyrlidis@earthlink.net) New Adventures in Hi-FiRelease info:1996—Warner Bros.—9 46320-2 Availability:Wide Ecto priority:Highly recommended Group members:Bill Berry Guest artists:Scott McCaughey Produced by:Scott Litt & R.E.M. Comments:I was disappointed with Monster too, although I think I would reserve the priceless gems among dung description for Green. But New Adventures in Hi-Fi is a great CD, possibly my favorite of R.E.M.'s. "E-Bow the Letter" is wonderful. And, songs like "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" and "Leave" sort of point to the direction they ended up going on Up. It's definitely a CD worth checking out. (stuart@sph.emory.edu) R.E.M. In the AtticRelease info:1997—Capitol Records/EMI—72438-21321-2-7 Availability:Rare Ecto priority:Highly recommended Group members:Bill Berry Comments:A limited edition compilation album of b-sides, live tracks, and alternative recordings, In The Attic is an example of what a well-done compilation can be. There's just a lot of great material on this disc. Sadly, it's not widely available any more, but fans will want to track down a used copy. (JoAnn Whetsell) UpRelease info:1998—Warner Bros.—9 47112-2 Availability:Wide Ecto priority:Highly recommended Group members:Peter Buck Guest artists:Barrett Martin Produced by:Pat McCarthy and R.E.M. Comments:I hated Monster. Hated it. A few priceless gems buried in a pile of dung, which made me hate it even more than I would have if it had just been all-around sucky. And having been burned, I never bothered buying New Adventures in Hi-Fi, even though I was taken with the lead single, "E-Bow, a Letter." Still, something told me to go buy Up when it was released, and I'm very glad I did. They've changed directions yet again, going toward something that is at once modernly electronic and at the same time giving off that late '90s retro chic vibe. It is one of those albums that, when you first hear it, makes you say, "what were they *thinking*?!" but then grows on you as you begin to figure out what that was. (burka@jeffrey.net) RevealRelease info:2001—Warner Bros.—9 47946-2 Availability:Wide Ecto priority:Recommended Group members:Peter Buck Guest artists:Scott McCaughey Produced by:Pat McCarthy and R.E.M. Comments:R.E.M. need to do something pretty spectacular to get my interest after Reveal, a dismal and dreary experience, with the band sounding bored, disaffected and distracted. A rather muffled production doesn't help, and even a promising song like "I'll Take the Rain," which strains for "classic" status á la "Everybody Hurts," comes off sounding as if Stipe was wandering out the door as he sings it. (adamk@zoom.co.uk) Around the SunRelease info:2004—Warner Bros.—48894-2 Availability:Wide Ecto priority:Recommended Group members:Peter Buck Produced by:Pat McCarthy and R.E.M. Comments:When a band's been around as long as this one, perhaps it's unfair to expect great albums; perhaps good albums are good enough. In that case, Around the Sun fits the bill. It's a solid, comfortable album, nothing spectacular, but nothing embarrassing either. And the band sounds more alive than on their previous effort, Reveal. The first half of the album is stronger. "Leaving New York" and "Electron Blue" are both good songs. "The Outsiders" has a great instrumental section, but unfortunately part of it is covered up by a rap, which is at least not as bad as it could have been. (JoAnn Whetsell) LiveRelease info:2007—Warner Bros.—292668-2 Availability:Wide Ecto priority:Highly recommended Group members:Peter Buck—guitars Guest artists:Scott McCaughey—guitars, keyboards Produced by:Emer Patten Comments:A strong collection of live material that should please most fans. I haven't watched the DVD and so can't comment on it, but I will say that disc 1 (full-length album) is better than disc 2 (EP) which has only "What's the Frequency, Kenneth" and "Drive" to recommend it. (JoAnn Whetsell) AccelerateRelease info:2008—Warner Bros.—0 9362-49885-8 8 Availability:Wide Ecto priority:Not recommended Produced by:Jacknife Lee & R.E.M. Comments:Pretty uninteresting. (JoAnn Whetsell) Collapse Into NowRelease info:2011—Warner Bros.—525611-2 Availability:Wide Ecto priority:Recommended Group members:Peter Buck Guest artists:Scott McCaughey—guitars, keyboards, accordion, vocals Produced by:Jacknife Lee Comments:While saying it's their best for a while is damning it with faint praise (given how poor their recent output has been) it's enjoyable as a "Greatest Bits" release, with recogniseable scraps of greater glories recycled into a bizarre but fairly fun mix tape. I like it, and it's definitely better than the irritating, posturing Accelerate but it's still the sound of the band shark-jumping. (Yet still I think, "Maybe next time....") (adamk@zoom.co.uk) Part Lies Part Heart Part Truth Part Garbage 1982–2011Release info:2011—Warner Bros.—529088-2 Availability:Wide Ecto priority:Highly recommended Group members:Peter Buck Guest artists:Bill Rieflin—drums (disc 2, tracks 17-19) Produced by:R.E.M. (disc 1, tracks 1, 11-21, disc 2, tracks 1-7, 9-19), Mich Easter (disc 1, tracks 1-6), Don Dixon (disc 1, tracks 2-6), Joe Boyd (disc 1, tracks 7, 8), Don Gehman (disc 1, tracks 9, 10), Scott Litt (disc 1, tracks 11-21, disc 2, tracks 1-6), Pat McCarthy (disc 2, tracks 7-11), Jacknife Lee (disc 2, tracks 12-19) Comments:I really enjoy this retrospective covering the best songs from R.E.M.'s career. And I like the band's insights about the songs in the liner notes (although the fonts are so similar I find it hard to tell who wrote what). The three new songs are okay, not great ("We All Go Back to Where We Belong" has a '70s Chicago vibe and the word "Hallelujah" in the song "Hallelujah" sounds more like a groan than a word). But overall, a great send-off to a great band. (JoAnn Whetsell) Further info:R.E.M. has released the following videos: Thanks to JoAnn Whetsell for work on this entry.
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